World History Essential Standard 8: Analyze global interdependence and shifts in power in terms of political, economic, social,and environmental changes and conflicts since the last half of the twentieth century.
Clarifying Objective WH.H.8.1: Evaluate global wars in terms of how they challenged political, and economic power structures and gave rise to new balances of power (e.g. Spanish American War, WWI, WWII, Vietnam War, Colonial Wars in Africa, Persian Gulf War, etc.)
Clarifying Objective WH.H.8.2: Explain how international crisis has impacted international politics (e.g. Berlin Blockade, Korean War, Hungarian Revolt, Cuban Missile Crisis, OPEC oil crisis, Iranian Revolt, "911", terrorism, etc.)
Clarifying Objective WH.H.8.4: Analyze scientific, technological and medical innovations of postwar decades in terms of their impact on systems of production, global trade and standards of living (e.g. satellites computers, social networks, information highway).
English Language Arts Standards >> Reading: Literature >> Grades 9-10: English Language Arts Standards >> Reading: Literature >> Grades 9-10: The CCR anchor standards and high school grade-specific standards work in tandem to define college and career readiness expectations—the former providing broad standards, the latter providing additional specificity.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.1: Cite strong and thorough evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as influences drawn form the text
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.2: Determine a theme or central ideal of a text and analyze in detail its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by scientific details; provide an objective summary of the text.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.3: Analyze how complex characters (e.g., those with multiple or conflicting motivations) develop over the course of a text, interact with other characters, and advance the plot or develop the theme.
1.02: Use basic words and short learned phrases during interactions orally and in writing
1.03: Ask and answer questions about feelings using learned material orally and in writing
1.04: Share likes and dislikes, feelings, and emotions with each other orally and in writing
Learning Activities
The following learning activities are created for a heterogeneous environment of fifteen students in the ninth grade.
World History
After studying the impact of such crises as the Cold War and terrorism, students will begin to explore how international crises have impacted global politics and the design of documents, treaties, etc. that are meant to promote equitability throughout both the developed and developing world. As students continued their reading of The Drowned Cities, they will see the impact that an essential lack of human rights and global responsibility has on the characters and setting of the text. As a result, World History students will analyze the background and importance the the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights has on our world today. Working in groups, they will collaborate, synthesize, and create a Prezi demonstrating their inquiry.
English Language Arts
In order to read the text of The Drowned Cities deeply and critically, but also to establish a base comprehension and knowledge about the text, students will participate in virtual reading groups established with the purpose of engaging in discourse, inquiry, and analysis collaboratively as well as academic discussion in a forum setting. Students will be grouped according to their reading, writing, analytical, and technical abilities so that each group has members with strengths in at least one area. Students will read assigned portions of the text and then check in to the virtual book group to discuss, analyze, and otherwise interact with the text and each other. They will be guided by prompts that ask them to make connections, engage in inquiry, and engage in higher-order thinking activities (evaluation, analysis, creation, etc.)
Earth/Environmental Science
Students will explore and analyze the impact of human interaction with the environment in crises such as a world war as presented in The Drowned Cities. As students read and study the setting, a post-apocalyptic world on the East coast of the United States, they will analyze elements of climate, atmosphere, and sustainability of human life. Working in small groups, students will collaborate on a research project to gather resources for the purpose of studying these topics. Students will research and choose three websites with information pertaining to their topic and provide QR Codes identifying these sites with annotations to accompany the QR Codes.
Spanish 1
To enhance the written expression of the stated course objectives, students will work in partners to answer the question, "What does loyalty mean in The Drowned Cities?" Students will answer the question in Spanish and will revisit the question throughout the course of the novel.
Integration of App/Tool
World History
Working in groups of three, students will create a Prezi introducing, and discussing the most important mandates of the Declaration, as well as answering the following questions:
Do you notice any prior documents or mandates that served as inspirations for the Universal Declaration of Human Rights?
In general, what are the most important declarations that the document states as the most essential human rights?
How attainable are the rights identified in the Declaration? Think about this from both the developed and developing nation's standpoint.
How ambiguous or interpretive are the mandates identified in the Declaration?
To what extend are the mandates in the Declaration able to be enforced? Who is responsible for that? To what degree (e.g., is enforcement still implied to be obligatory even if there is a significant resistance to it?)?
Students will be evaluated on their use of time during class, as well as their ability to work collaboratively with their peers. Additionally, students are expected to create a meaningful Prezi which demonstrates a strong seriousness of purpose, alongside a deep understanding of how the curriculum studied in World HIstory ties into the themes found in The Drowned Cities.
English Language Arts
The students will be organized into reading groups within the website Goodreads. This site allows the teacher to create a profile which the students can easily locate using the teacher's email address. It also allows the teacher to create invite-only, private groups for students to join. Within these groups, students can engage in meaningful discussion about the novel and have access to the greater resources of Goodreads, including public discussion forums, reviews, Q&A sections, quizzes, and other user-sourced content. Students can also purchase and download the book directly through the Goodreads app, making it possible to read on their mobile device and automatically update their Goodreads feed with their progress. (In fact, the first eleven chapters of the book are available for free download through Goodreads here.) The students will have easy access to one another and the teacher in this virtual space that is mobile, user-friendly, and cross-platform. If they wish, students can also access Goodreads on the Internet from a laptop or desktop computer. Here is the page on Goodreads dedicated to the novel.
Earth/Environmental Science
Working in small groups (3-4), students will choose a topic related to some environmental issue such as climate change, sustainability of human life on earth (i.e. resources humans are dependent on), atmospheric pollution, etc. which stems from reading The Drowned Cities.
The setting of the novel includes descriptions as follows:
"Bomb-shattered buildings" and "bean fields and soaked rice paddies" (Bacigalupi,p. 10)"A new thicket of jungle and plunged into its shadows..."
"He sniffed the humid air. Salt breezes. The sea. Somewhere north there was an inlet." (Bacigalupi, p. 11)
"The black tropics, some people called this place, for its winter darkness. A sweltering humid environment..." (Bacigalupi, p. 12)
"The swamps here were deep, many meters deep... This landscape hid sinkholes of water" (Bacigalupi, p. 13)
"The skitter of crawdads. The distant womblike slosh and suge of salt water as it blended with cousin waters on the shore, where swampland and surf smashed together and sought ever higher tide lines" (Bacigalupi, p. 13-14)
Once groups have chosen their research topic, they will search for online resources such as environmental agencies, foundations, or other organizations that provide information pertaining to their chosen topic. Students will use the ZXing App to generate a QR Code for their chosen resources.
Next, groups will copy and paste their code into a Microsoft Word or PowerPoint slide and caption it with annotations about the resource including 1)Title of organization, 2)URL of resource 3)One-sentence summary describing resource. They will print their document and post somewhere in the classroom.
Finally, groups will use a QR Code reader app on their smartphones or tablets to explore each groups' resources. Each group should scan every other groups' QR Codes and make notes about those resources to participate in a class discussion that will follow. Each group will be required to discuss their research topic and why they chose those particular resources with peers providing feedback in the class discussion.
Spanish 1
Students will use the Popplet app on their mobile device (iPad, iPhone) to engage in dialogue with their partner, and to brainstorm how loyalty is an evident trait in The Drowned Cities. Students will be graded on the quality of conversation being done within the group, as well as the connections that the students have made to the text. Moreover, students will be assessed on how they used their time to explore the Popplet app, including its various features, as well as the use of daily and weekly vocabulary terms and phrases learned in the course.
Collaboration
Synchronous
Collaboration is completed during class time in all subjects (World History, English Langauge Arts, Spanish 1, and Earth/Enviromental Science)
Presentations during World History allow for students to ask questions, and engage in dialogue with presenters
Asynchronous Collaboration
In World History, students will work on their Prezi at home, allowing for their assigned partner to provide feedback using the Prezi Feedback tool.
In English. students will complete independent reading and then collaborate on literary analysis discussion questions in the Goodreads app.
Facilitate and inspire student learning and creativity
Promote support, and model creative and innovative thinking and inventiveness
Engage students in exploring real-world issues and solving authentic problems using digital tools and resources
Promote student reflecting using collaborative tools to reveal and clarify students' conceptual understanding and thinking, planning, and creative processes
Model collaborative knowledge construction by engaging in learning with students, colleagues, and others in face-to face and virtual environments
Design and develop digital age learning experiences and assessments
Design and adapt relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools and resources to promote student learning and creativity
Develop technology-enriched learning environments that enable all students to pursue their individual curiosities and become active participants in setting their own educational goals, managing their own learning, and assessing their own progress.
Customize and personalize learning activities to address students' diverse learning styles, working strategies, and abilities using digital tools and resources
Provide students with multiple and varied formative and summative assessments aligned with content and technology standards and use resulting data to inform learning and teaching
Model digital age work and learning
Collaborate with students, peers, parents, and community members using digital tools and resources to support student success and innovation
Model and facilitate effective use of current and emerging digital tools to locate, analyze, evaluate, and use information resource sto support research and learning
Promote and model digital citizenship and responsibility
Advocate, model, and teach safe, legal, and ethical use of digital information and technology, including respect for copyright, intellectual property,and the appropriate documentation of sources
Address the diverse needs of all learners by using learner-centered strategies providing equitable access to appropriate digital tools and resources
Promote and model digital etiquette and responsible social interactions related to the use of technology and information
Assessment
World History
Students will be evaluated using the Prezi Rubric created by the instructor. This formative assessment will count as a 20 point grade (quiz level).
Spanish
As a formative assessment, students will be evaluated on their ability to answer the question, "How is loyalty an evident trait in the Drowned Cities?" Students will be required to use vocabulary from the Spanish 1 Vocabulary List throughout the course of this assignment. Each post made between partners should include at least three vocabulary terms, as well as using proper grammar that aligns with the level one Spanish curriculum.Students will be graded using the Popplet Rubric and this will count as a 15 point grade (mini-quiz)
Earth/Environmental Science
Students will be evaluated on the following criteria:
Collaboration with peers in groups
Identifying appropriate research topic
Identifying appropriate sources for the topic
Technical elements of using the QR Code App and readers
Engagement in class discussion of research
The instructor will assign points to the project based on this QR Code Rubric
English Language Arts
During the reading of the novel, the teacher will informally assess the students' comprehension of the text and participate when necessary to model effective virtual discussion methods.
After finishing the final discussion forum question on Goodreads, students will evaluate their own contributions to the discussion on the Goodreads Book Group Rubric. They will evaluate the following elements of their work: (1) collaborative efforts, especially in consideration of individual differences in ability, (2) time management, (3) responsibility, (4) the use of standard written English conventions and academic vocabulary, including literary terms from class (i.e., metaphor, simile, personification, imagery,) and (5) the effectiveness of the group's ability to discuss and analyze the text in meaningful ways.
At the conclusion of the novel, students will write a collaborative review on Goodreads. Their review will include (1) a star rating for the book, at which they will arrive after discussion and consensus, (2) at least one element of the plot, characterization, setting, conflict, or resolution the group found particularly intriguing, (3) at least one element of the text (diction, syntax, vocabulary, author's choices, etc.) that the group found particularly intriguing, (4) a suggestion for the type of reader this book might appeal to (i.e., "If you like science fiction and dark themes, this is your book,") and (5) no "spoilers" or mentions of specific plot twists that might take away from others' reading of the text. These elements are included on the Goodreads Book Review Rubric, which each student will fill out for themselves and which the teacher will fill out for each student.
After completion of this integrated unit, students will leave with an understanding and value of content integration throughout the curriculum, with an emphasis of literacy as a novel served as the catalyst for the unit. Moreover, through the lessons designed by instructors, coupled with curriculum objectives, course standards, and emphasis on the development of 21st century skills through the use of emerging technologies, students are being prepared to develop new skills, like 21st century literacy skills, that will enable them to thrive as learners throughout their secondary education and into their post-secondary careers.
Curriculum Objectives
Learning Activities
The following learning activities are created for a heterogeneous environment of fifteen students in the ninth grade.
Integration of App/Tool
Collaboration
ISTE NETS-T Standards
Assessment
Materials/Resources
Value Beyond the Classroom/Learning Experience
After completion of this integrated unit, students will leave with an understanding and value of content integration throughout the curriculum, with an emphasis of literacy as a novel served as the catalyst for the unit. Moreover, through the lessons designed by instructors, coupled with curriculum objectives, course standards, and emphasis on the development of 21st century skills through the use of emerging technologies, students are being prepared to develop new skills, like 21st century literacy skills, that will enable them to thrive as learners throughout their secondary education and into their post-secondary careers.Learning Activity Development Resources/Citations
Brock, Rose, and Michael Brock. "Educators' Guide: The Drowned Cities." Little, Brown and Company, n.d. Web. 12 Apr. 2013.
<http://74.220.207.149/~littlfc1/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/YA_DrownedCities.pdf>.
Clark, Don. "Bloom's taxonomy of learning domains." n.d. <http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/hrd/bloom.html>
Bacigalupi, Paolo. The Drowned Cities. Little, Brown and Company, 2012. Print. <http://www.amazon.com/Drowned-Cities-Paolo-Bacigalupi/dp/0316056243>